Year-Round Evening Train to South Fork Starts Monday

After fare hikes recently went into effect across the board on Long Island Rail Road trains, service on a weekday eastbound train out to the South Fork is being restored as of Monday.

A 4:30 p.m. train will leave Hunterspoint and arrive in Southampton at 6:50 p.m. and Bridgehampton at 6:59 p.m., connecting Queens and the South Fork on a daily basis. 

The service had been reduced to Fridays-only in September 2010, as part of a number of controversial cuts in East End service that came down the pike around the same time the MTA payroll tax was imposed.

While the MTA announced the restoration last summer as part of a $29 million investment plan, the service was originally conceived to be "in season," running from May through mid-October. Instead, it will run year-round following last fall's announcement that ticket prices were going to be increased.

New fares went into affect on Friday, with average tickets increasing between 8.2 and 9.3 percent, depending on the distance traveled.

Added lines heading out to Port Jefferson, Huntington and Long Beach were restored as well, though no additional service to Riverhead and the North Fork was announced. All restorations take affect Monday.